Slipper sides with Labor on carbon bill

Former speaker
Peter Slipper
has helped the government defeat an opposition move to embarrass Labor over the carbon tax in a sign that the former Liberal MP will support the government on key votes.

Mr Slipper took the government’s side in a vote on its amendments to link the carbon scheme to the European Union emissions trading scheme and remove a price floor when emissions trading starts.

The Coalition had moved an amendment to the government’s bill, declining to give it a second reading and calling on Labor to “immediately abolish all liability and scrap the carbon tax".

The bill passed and the Coalition amendment was defeated 71 to 68. Later in the day, Mr Slipper supported the government on three other occasions, including a motion calling on the Coalition to submit their policies to the new parliamentary budget office for costing.

The votes were the first real indication of how Mr Slipper is likely to vote after Labor blocked an opposition motion to remove him as speaker. He voluntarily resigned shortly afterwards.

With the numbers finely balanced in the House of Representatives, Labor may need Mr Slipper’s support to implement the Gonski education reforms, new media regulation, and the national disability insurance scheme.

Earlier this week, Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott
said that as the representative of a Liberal National electorate, Mr Slipper should vote for the Coalition in Parliament. “He was elected as a Coalition member, his electorate would expect him to vote with the Coalition."

The former speaker bowed to pressure on Tuesday over his texting to former aide James Ashby and resigned from the position not long after the government, the Greens and key independents defended him from the opposition’s efforts to have him removed.

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Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
argued at the time that, while she was offended by comments about women made by Mr Slipper in the texts, there was a court case in progress in which the judge had reserved his decision.

Federal Court judge Steven Rares is expected to announce his decision on the abuse of process claim by Mr Slipper in the Ashby case in coming days. A trial on the sexual harassment allegation made by Mr Ashby against Mr Slipper has not been scheduled.

Previously as speaker Mr Slipper voted according to established protocol in casting his deciding vote rather than along party lines. While the government’s bill to link the carbon scheme to the EU was passed by the House of Representatives, a Greens amendment to require the Productivity Commission to review assistance for coal-fire power stations was defeated.

Opposition frontbencher Mathias Cormann said a “clerical mistake" was the cause of a letter being sent to former Labor MP and now crossbencher Craig Thomson seeking his support for a Coalition Bill. Mr Abbott has previously said the opposition would not support Mr Thomson’s “tainted" vote.

‘It was my mistake,’’ Senator Cormann said. ‘’I should never have written to him.’’